Furrier&#39;s tool



June 10, 1941. SCHECKWITZ 5, 5

FURRIERS TOOL Filed July 9, 1940 Zea/s fiawzc/(w/rz. 1N VEN TOR.

ATTOENE J.

Patented June 10, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 FURRIERS TOOL Louis Scheckwitz, Long Beach, N. Y. Application July 9, 1940, Serial No. 344,485

' '1 Claim. (01. 145.6)

In the art it is a common practice to stretch skins to a pattern form which is secured to a board or similar support and to secure the skins to the board and pattern.

This operation is generally accomplished by means of a tool of the pliers type which is engaged with the skin, the skin being then stretched and a small nail or similar fastening passed through the skin into the support after which the pliers are disengaged from the skin and employed in the manner of a hammer to drive the fastening.

Such an operation is awkward and consumes time and it is one object of the present invention to provide a tool which will be more adaptable to the performance of the operation described.

A feature of the invention resides in the provision of a tool Which after the skin has been gripped and stretched, is employed to hold the skin in position during the fastening operation thereof.

It is a further feature of the invention so to construct the device that it will be maintained steadily in position during the operation of setting the fastening.

It is a further object of the invention so to construct the tool that it will be substantially similar in use to toolsalready employed for the purpose, thus rendering unnecessary for operators to familiarize themselves with a new use and method of operation.

Reference will be had to the accompanying drawing wherein a tool constructed in accordance with the present invention is illustrated and in which,

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a tool constructed in accordance with the present invention,

Figure 2 is a view in front end elevation thereof,

Figure 3 is a view in side elevation showing the manner of use of the tool, and;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral A designates a conventional type of stitcher or stapling device. It comprises a body portion l0 and a head portion ll having the ordi nary manually operated plunger l2 which sets a staple or similar fastening.

The body portion ill is of channel form and forms, in the tool of the present invention, one of the handles thereof. The body portion i0 is provided with a finger guard l3 which may be secured within the rear portion thereof and the front end of this finger guard I3 is provided with a curved portion M, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described.

The other handle which is designated l5, straddles the body portion l 0 and is pivotally attached thereto as at It. The handle l5 has a nose portion I! which underlies the forward end l8 of the body portion l0 and said nose portion H is formed on its upper face with a gripping jaw l9 which cooperates with a block 20 mounted in the forward end of the body portion ID at a point immediately below the stitcher or stapling device A. The jaw I9 heretofore described, may be provided with a plurality of teeth 2| which enter recesses 22 in the block 251 in order to hold more firmly the skin which is gripped between the jaw 19 and the block 20.

Connected as at 25 to the body portion In, there is a coil spring 26, the opposite end of which is connected to a lug 27 formed upon the rear end of the jaw l9. This spring 26 tends to normally hold the handles l0 and I5 in their spread position.

As the handles are grasped and moved towards each other in the act of gripping a skin, the spring 26 is placed under sufficient tension to return the handles to their spread position when they are released.

The tool is operated in the following manner.

The reference numeral 39 designates a suitable skin support which may be of any type but is preferably in the form of a soft wood. Mount-. ed upon the support there is a pattern 3| and the reference numeral 32 designates a skin to be stretched in conformation with the pattern 3|.

The skin is tacked along one edge in conformation with the pattern, after which it is grasped intermittently at suitable points along its free edge and stretched to the pattern in which position it is secured.

Since each operation of the tool is substantially the same, but one operation will be described.

The free edge of the skin is placed between the jaw l9 and the block 29, between whichit is gripped by applying pressure to the handles and moving them towards each other. After this has been done, the nose portion I1 of the handle I 5 is placed upon the pattern and the tool is rocked until the curved portion [4 of the finger guard l3 engages the pattern as indicated in Figure 3.

Contact of the nose portion l! of the handle l5 and the curved portion [4 of the finger guard l3 with the pattern and the support forms a rigid support for the tool during a, stretching operation. With the parts in this position, the tool is pulled sufficiently to stretch the skin to the desired extent after which pressure is applied to the plunger l2 to set a staple or similar fastening 40 through the skin 32 and into the support 30 to secure to the support, the pattern 3! and the skin 32.

After the stretching operation has been completed the skin and pattern are removed merely by grasping the pattern and ripping it from the support 3!), it being understood that the fastenings 49 are of the type which permit of ready removal of the skin and pattern and yet maintain the skin in stretched position upon the pattern.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present invention provides a tool which materially simplifies the operation of stretching and securing skins to patterns and further provides such a tool in which greater accuracy of the stretching of the skin may be obtained. Furthermore, it is unnecessary to hold the stretched skin by the hand and remove the tool for the purpose of setting the fastening, as is necessary in all previous tools of this type with which I am familiar.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

A tool of the type set forth, comprising a straight main body member, a block carried by the forward end of said body member, a finger guard carried by the rear end of the main body member, a handle member pivotally mounted upon the body member adjacent the forward end thereof, and cooperating with the body member to form a pair of gripping handles, an off-set nose portion extending from the forward end of the pivotally mounted handle member, said nose portion cooperating with the block carried by the forward end of the body member to provide a pair of gripping jaws and cooperating with the forward end of the finger guard to provide tool positioning means, a spring connected at one end to the off-set nose portion of the pivoted handle member and at its other end to the main body member for normally moving the pivoted handle member to open position with relation to the main body member, and a staple feeding mechanism mounted upon the main body member at the forward end thereof.

LOUIS SCHECKWITZ. 

